Epithet
Epithet is the word for a descriptive tag that rides beside a name, or steps in for it entirely. It attaches to a real or invented person, place, or thing. Suleiman carried "the Magnificent," and Ladislaus carried "the Short," labels plain enough that they explain themselves. Æthelred was tagged "the Unready," and Mary Tudor became "Bloody Mary," names that hint at a reputation rather than describe a fact outright. The same word can also curdle into something closer to an insult, a slur aimed rather than a compliment paid.
Kings needed these labels to tell one Richard or Charles from another. Poets used them to fill out a line of verse. Gods carried them to mark one local shrine apart from the next. This documentary traces the epithet through royal courts, epic poems, temple inscriptions, and the medieval paperwork that eventually gave ordinary people surnames.
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Common questions
What is the original meaning of epithet according to H. W. Fowler?
H. W. Fowler documented that the term originally meant any descriptive phrase accompanying a name without negative connotations. The word suffered a vulgarization in 1926 that gave it an abusive imputation.
How did surnames function before modern naming conventions took hold in England?
The Domesday Book of 1086 identified forty individuals with the given name Richard who carried locational or occupational bynames instead of heritable surnames. These distinctions were not heritable and could change based on circumstances like moving away from a location.
Why do Homer's epics rely heavily on fixed epithets within verse structure?
Homer's epics use fixed epithets to satisfy metrical requirements within the verse structure while filling out half-verse lines without adding essential information. Ancient Greek poets used phrases like cloud-gathering Zeus to describe storms without needing to conjure them directly.
When did William Safire write about the shift of epithet into abuse over the past century?
William Safire wrote about this shift in 2008, noting how the word blossomed into a term for abuse over the past century. He observed how colleagues seized upon the word gleefully to describe political attacks during his column published that year.
What is the difference between fixed epithets and transferred epithets in rhetoric?
Fixed epithets involve repetitive use of the same phrase for identical persons or objects to create a familiar cadence. Transferred epithets qualify nouns other than those they describe, creating what rhetoricians call hypallage such as a cheerful money example.
All sources
12 references cited across the entry
- 1EpithetosPerseus Project
- 2BookCultural Intimacy: Social Poetics and the Real Life of States, Societies, and InstitutionsMichael Herzfeld — Routledge — 2016
- 3BookGood Word GuideMartin H. Manser — A & C Black — 2007
- 5BookEl epíteto en la lírica españolaGonzalo Sobejano — Editorial Gredos — 1956
- 6BookEpithets in the RgvedaJ. Gonda — De Gruyter — 1959-12-31
- 9JournalElements of RhetoricRichard Whately — 1841
- 10JournalFigurative Language in the Scottish New Rhetoric Figurative Language in the Scottish New RhetoricBryan Short — Elsevier — 2000
- 11JournalPresents of the MindWilliam Safire — June 22, 2008
- 12A Brief Introduction to Medieval BynamesBrian M. Scott et al. — 1999